Anthropology

Anthropology studies humankind, comparing peoples of all places and times to understand
the panorama of human existence. The field looks at the human experience through aspects
like language, biology, religion, family life, politics, economics, and others. While
many anthropologists work in other cultures amid exotic settings, MTSU's program also
emphasizes the practical aspects of anthropology to help solve human problems. Sub-disciplines
are introduced in archaeology, ethnology, biological anthropology, and linguistics.
A special emphasis is on fieldwork.

Hands-on archaeology experience in field

An annual summer field school is offered in archaeology. Past sites include 1,500-year-old
Native American mound centers, frontier forts, slave cabins, and an early-mid-19th-century
church. The program has internships in archaeology with the National Park Service
at Big South Fork, plus offering international field opportunities.

Piece by piece: Forensic science expert

Dr. Hugh Berryman, an MTSU research professor, is one of the nation's foremost forensic
anthropologists; he received the 2012 T. Dale Stewart award for lifetime achievement.
Institutions like the Smithsonian tap his expertise on bones and bone trauma, and
his Forensic Anthropology Search and Recovery team of students help agencies deal
with death and homicide.

An anthropology degree can prepare a student for jobs with museums and archives, education,
archaeology, government, non-profits, business, and communications. Students may specialize
through graduate programs or prepare for advanced degrees in law, medicine, forensics,
or genetic counseling.

Antique and collectibles shops

Archaeology companies

Archives

Art galleries

Bilingual education

Colleges and universities

Community centers

Consulting

Cultural brokerage

Diversity training

Documentary film making

Environmental impact assessment

Environmental organizations

Ethnic and cultural organizations

Federal/state/local/tribal government

Fund-raising

Genetics counseling

Historic preservation offices

International business

International development agencies

International diplomacy

Law

Libraries

Management

Marketing

Media

Medical and health-related jobs

Military human terrain projects

Mission organizations

Museums

Parks and historic sites

Personnel (Human Resources)

Photography

Police work and forensics

Politics

Public administration

Public relations

Publishing

Refugee/immigrant services

Scientific and creative writing

Social impact assessment

Social service agencies

Teaching

Translating and interpreting

Travel

Women's organizations

Zoos

Employers of MTSU alumni include

Universities/colleges/community colleges

Nature centers/natural history or history museums

Government/planning agencies

U.S. Forest Service//U.S. Corps of Engineers

Environmental or engineering firms

Private foundations/international organizations

Two options are available for students interested in pursuing studies in Anthropology:
1) a Bachelor of Science in Anthropology; or 2) a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology.

For complete curriculum details, click on the REQUIREMENTS tab above.

For more details about Anthropology majors and minors, please view the handbook.

The major in Anthropology leading to a B.S. requires a minimum of 36 semester hours
in the department. The B.A. in Sociology with a concentration in Anthropology is for
students with interests in anthropology pursuing a second major where only the Bachelor
of Arts degree is available.

Sociological Spectrum is the official journal of the Mid-South Sociological Association. It is a refereed
interdisciplinary social science journal that publishes theoretical, methodological,
quantitative and qualitative substantive research, and applied research articles in
the areas of sociology, social psychology, anthropology, and political science.

Students are invited to join the Middle Tennessee Anthropology Society.

Anthropology (B.A.)

Anthropology, B.A.

The Anthropology program emphasizes the practical aspects of anthropology to help solve human problems. Sub-disciplines are introduced in archaeology, ethnology, biological anthropology, and linguistics with a special emphasis on fieldwork.

Major Requirements (43 hours)

ANTH 2800 - Professions in Anthropology

1 credit hour

Prerequisites: ANTH 2010 and ANTH 2210 both with a grade of B- or above. Introduces students to the profession of anthropology via lectures, hands-on activities, readings, small group service-learning projects, and writing assignments.

ANTH 3000 - Anthropological Theory

ANTH 3010 - Ethnology

3 credit hours

Examines different approaches in anthropology to the study of contemporary world cultures. For upper-division anthropology majors and minors. Addresses various theoretical approaches in the study of culture, use of ethnographic methods, ethical role of the anthropologist in research, and current issues in ethnology. Readings will focus on ethnographies from around the world.

ANTH 3210 - Archaeology

3 credit hours

Introduces methods used to study the nature and development of prehistoric societies. Approaches to survey, excavation, analysis, and interpretation explored through lectures, case studies, and problem assignments.

ANTH 3310 - Biological Anthropology

ANTH 3410 - Linguistic Anthropology

3 credit hours

Language in its anthropological contexts with a focus on language as one element of culture, including how a language fits into the cultural system, how language is distinguished from other components of culture, how culture and language interrelate, and what techniques and methods can be used to infer nonlinguistic facts from linguistic material.

ANTH 3530 - Anthropology Research Methods

3 credit hours

Prerequisites: ANTH 2010, ANTH 2210, and ANTH 2800 (or corequisite of ANTH 2800). Introduces the use and application of statistical methods to anthropological problems. Students will use statistical software to perform quantitative analyses of anthropological data sets from cultural, archaeology, and biological anthropology.

ANTH electives 12 credit hours

Area Studies

ANTH 3509 - Peoples and Cultures of China and Japan

3 credit hours

Prerequisite: ANTH 2010 recommended. The diverse peoples and culture of China and Japan. Overview of East Asia as a region and contemporary issues and impacts resulting from globalization from an anthropological perspective.

ANTH 3514 - Peoples and Cultures of Africa

3 credit hours

(Same as AAS 3514 and AST 3514.) The diverse peoples and cultures of Africa. History, sociocultural system, and contemporary issues and impacts resulting from globalization from an anthropological perspective.

ANTH 3515 - Peoples and Cultures of Native North America

3 credit hours

The diverse peoples and cultures of Native North America (often called American Indians or Native Americans). History, sociocultural system, and contemporary issues and impacts resulting from globalization from an anthropological perspective.

ANTH 3520 - North American Prehistoric Archaeology

3 credit hours

A comprehensive presentation including archaeological findings concerning the initial settlement of North America some 14,000 years ago; the origins, adaptations, and development of major North American cultural traditions through European contact and colonization; and the major theoretical contributions of North American archaeology.

ANTH 3521 - Mesoamerican Archaeology

3 credit hours

Prerequisite: 3 hours anthropology. Archaeology of Mesoamerica to include the findings of archaeology of the initial settlement of Mesoamerica; the origins, adaptations, and development of major prehistoric Mesoamerican cultural traditions such as the Olmec, Maya, and Aztec; and the major theoretical contributions of Mesoamerican archaeology.

ANTH 4520 - Archaeology of the Southeastern United States

3 credit hours

Prerequisites: ANTH 2230 or ANTH 3210 or ANTH 3520, or permission of instructor. A comprehensive presentation of the archaeology of the southeastern United States, to include historical overviews of southeastern archaeology; a consideration of geography, geomorphology, and environment; theoretical contributions of southeastern archaeology; the finds of southeastern archaeology concerning the initial settlement of the region; the origins, adaptations, and development of major prehistoric southeastern cultural traditions through historic contact and colonization.

Archaeology/Biological Anthropology

ANTH 3240 - Ancient Civilizations

3 credit hours

Prerequisite: 3 hours of anthropology. Comparative study of archaeological evidence on the origins, development, and collapse of the early civilizations of the world. The transformation of human societies from the first settled villages to urban states in Mesopotamia, Egypt, India, Central Asia, Mesoamerica, and Peru.

ANTH 3520 - North American Prehistoric Archaeology

3 credit hours

A comprehensive presentation including archaeological findings concerning the initial settlement of North America some 14,000 years ago; the origins, adaptations, and development of major North American cultural traditions through European contact and colonization; and the major theoretical contributions of North American archaeology.

ANTH 3521 - Mesoamerican Archaeology

3 credit hours

Prerequisite: 3 hours anthropology. Archaeology of Mesoamerica to include the findings of archaeology of the initial settlement of Mesoamerica; the origins, adaptations, and development of major prehistoric Mesoamerican cultural traditions such as the Olmec, Maya, and Aztec; and the major theoretical contributions of Mesoamerican archaeology.

ANTH 3610 - Archaeological Methods

3 credit hours

Prerequisite: ANTH 3210 or permission of instructor. Methods of identifying, excavating, recording, analyzing, reporting, and interpreting archaeological sites. Focus on technical aspects of archaeological research, including a substantial component of classroom simulations of the practical applications of these methodologies.

ANTH 4520 - Archaeology of the Southeastern United States

3 credit hours

Prerequisites: ANTH 2230 or ANTH 3210 or ANTH 3520, or permission of instructor. A comprehensive presentation of the archaeology of the southeastern United States, to include historical overviews of southeastern archaeology; a consideration of geography, geomorphology, and environment; theoretical contributions of southeastern archaeology; the finds of southeastern archaeology concerning the initial settlement of the region; the origins, adaptations, and development of major prehistoric southeastern cultural traditions through historic contact and colonization.

Cultural Anthropology/Linguistics

ANTH 3120 - Popular Culture in Global Perspective

3 credit hours

Prerequisite: ANTH 2010 or permission of instructor. Cross-culture exploration of pop culture as a body of widely shared and contested beliefs, practices, and material objects that present ordinary social life in spectacular and exaggerated form. Use of ethnography to understand pop culture as both a commercial phenomenon rooted in mass media as well as an expression of mass consumer resistance

ANTH 3130 - Anthropology of Music

3 credit hours

Prerequisite: ANTH 2010 or permission of instructor. The study of music as it reflects and shapes culture and social behavior from around the world. How music serves as a window into ideas of globalization and the related issues of power, resistance, and identity formation. Particular attention paid to the role of media and music in cross-cultural settings.

ANTH 3640 - Visual Anthropology

3 credit hours

Prerequisites: 3 hours anthropology or permission of instructor. Photography and film as tools and products of ethnography. Researching, analyzing, and presenting behavioral and cultural ideas through visual means. Cultural and political biases presented through photography and film.

ANTH 3720 - Environmental Anthropology

3 credit hours

Prerequisite: 3 hours anthropology or geography. Comparative study of ecological systems utilized by tribal, peasant, and industrialized peoples of the world. Special attention on theoretical approaches examining the interface of the environment and culture, the evolution of modes of subsistence, and contemporary development and indigenous people.

ANTH 3750 - Race, Class, and Gender

3 credit hours

Prerequisites: 3 hours anthropology or women's studies; ANTH 2010 recommended. An anthropological examination of the biological and cultural aspects of human identity as expressed through the concepts of race, ethnicity, gender, and sexuality. Focus on ways in which regional, ethnic, and gender identities are celebrated, contested, and regulated cross-culturally.

ANTH 3752 - Cultural Images of Gender

3 credit hours

Prerequisites: ANTH 2010 or SOC 1010 or WGST 2100; or permission of instructor. Global perspectives of gender through exploration of the experiences of men and women of various backgrounds worldwide. Special attention to mediums and writing styles presented; critical examination of creation and perpetuation of cultural images.

ANTH 4140 - Immigrants and Globalization in the American South

3 credit hours

Prerequisites: Junior standing; ANTH 2010 or ANTH 3010 or permission of instructor. ANTH 4130 recommended. Explores anthropologically the specific effects of globalizing forces in the southern United States. Relations between global and local communities explored taking into account immigration, particularly of Latinos and Asians; local industry in a time of globalization; power and confrontation between rural and urban worlds; issues of race and ethnicity; and the assimilation of foreign-born professionals into Southern social and cultural systems.

ANTH 4550 - Hip-hop Music and Culture

3 credit hours

(Same as MUHL 4550 and RIM 4550.) Prerequisites: ENGL 1010 and ENGL 1020. An ethnomusicological investigation of how hip-hop reacts to and informs mainstream culture through its primary art forms: music, visual art, and dance. Major themes and issues that cut across hip-hop's history, including issues of style and performance, gender, race, politics, and religion addressed.

ANTH 4730 - Economic Anthropology

3 credit hours

The ways people produce, distribute, and consume goods, how such systems are organized, how they operate, how they develop, and how they relate to other systems, especially the family, political, and ideological. Draws on case material for household economies, the transition to capitalist economies, and the world economic system.

ANTH 4750 - Anthropology of Religion

3 credit hours

Prerequisite: ANTH 2010 or ANTH 2740 or ANTH 3010 or permission of instructor. Cross-cultural exploration of religion, including beliefs in the supernatural, the use of ritual in secular and sacred context, and the roles of ceremonial practitioners. Focus on how people interpret and control their worldviews through religion and ritual.

Foreign Language Requirement (6 hours)

Students must successfully complete 2010 and 2020 or any courses numbered above the 2000 level in a single foreign language.

ENGL 1020 - Research and Argumentative Writing

3 credit hours

Prerequisite: ENGL 1010. The second General Education English course. Emphasis on analytic and argumentative writing and on locating, organizing, and using library resource materials in the writing. Minimum grade of C- required for credit.

COMM 2200 - Fundamentals of Communication

3 credit hours

Principles and processes of effective public oral communication including researching, critical thinking, organizing, presenting, listening, and using appropriate language. Counts as part of the General Education Communication requirement. TBR Common Course: COMM 2025

ANTH 2800 - Professions in Anthropology

1 credit hour

Prerequisites: ANTH 2010 and ANTH 2210 both with a grade of B- or above. Introduces students to the profession of anthropology via lectures, hands-on activities, readings, small group service-learning projects, and writing assignments.

ANTH 3000 - Anthropological Theory

ANTH 3210 - Archaeology

3 credit hours

Introduces methods used to study the nature and development of prehistoric societies. Approaches to survey, excavation, analysis, and interpretation explored through lectures, case studies, and problem assignments.

HIST 2010 - Survey of United States History I

3 credit hours

Survey of the political, economic, social, cultural, and diplomatic phases of American life in its regional, national, and international aspects. HIST 2010 discusses the era from the beginning to 1877. HIST 2020 discusses the era from 1877 to the present. These courses are prerequisite for all advanced courses in American history and satisfy the General Education History requirement. HIST 2010 is NOT a prerequisite for HIST 2020. TBR Common Course: HIST 2010

HIST 2020 - Survey of United States History II

3 credit hours

Survey of the political, economic, social, cultural, and diplomatic phases of American life in its regional, national, and international aspects. HIST 2010 discusses the era from the beginning to 1877. HIST 2020 discusses the era from 1877 to the present. These courses are prerequisite for all advanced courses in American history and satisfy the General Education History requirement. HIST 2010 is NOT a prerequisite for HIST 2020. TBR Common Course: HIST 2020

Subtotal: 28 Hours

Junior

ANTH 3010 - Ethnology

3 credit hours

Examines different approaches in anthropology to the study of contemporary world cultures. For upper-division anthropology majors and minors. Addresses various theoretical approaches in the study of culture, use of ethnographic methods, ethical role of the anthropologist in research, and current issues in ethnology. Readings will focus on ethnographies from around the world.

ANTH 3410 - Linguistic Anthropology

3 credit hours

Language in its anthropological contexts with a focus on language as one element of culture, including how a language fits into the cultural system, how language is distinguished from other components of culture, how culture and language interrelate, and what techniques and methods can be used to infer nonlinguistic facts from linguistic material.

ANTH 3530 - Anthropology Research Methods

3 credit hours

Prerequisites: ANTH 2010, ANTH 2210, and ANTH 2800 (or corequisite of ANTH 2800). Introduces the use and application of statistical methods to anthropological problems. Students will use statistical software to perform quantitative analyses of anthropological data sets from cultural, archaeology, and biological anthropology.

ANTH area studies 6 credit hours

ANTH electives (2000 level or above) 9 credit hours

Minor courses 6 credit hours

Subtotal: 30 Hours

Senior

ANTH area studies 6 credit hours

Minor upper-division courses 6 credit hours

Minor course 3 credit hours

ANTH elective (2000 level or above) 3 credit hours

Electives 6 credit hours

Foreign language (2010 and 2020 or above) 6 credit hours

Subtotal: 30 Hours

NOTE:

*Required courses

Anthropology (B.S.)

Anthropology, B.S.

The Anthropology program emphasizes the practical aspects of anthropology to helping solve human problems. Sub-disciplines are introduced in archaeology, ethnology, biological anthropology, and linguistics with a special emphasis on fieldwork.

Major Requirements (43 hours)

ANTH 2800 - Professions in Anthropology

1 credit hour

Prerequisites: ANTH 2010 and ANTH 2210 both with a grade of B- or above. Introduces students to the profession of anthropology via lectures, hands-on activities, readings, small group service-learning projects, and writing assignments.

ANTH 3000 - Anthropological Theory

ANTH 3010 - Ethnology

3 credit hours

Examines different approaches in anthropology to the study of contemporary world cultures. For upper-division anthropology majors and minors. Addresses various theoretical approaches in the study of culture, use of ethnographic methods, ethical role of the anthropologist in research, and current issues in ethnology. Readings will focus on ethnographies from around the world.

ANTH 3210 - Archaeology

3 credit hours

Introduces methods used to study the nature and development of prehistoric societies. Approaches to survey, excavation, analysis, and interpretation explored through lectures, case studies, and problem assignments.

ANTH 3310 - Biological Anthropology

ANTH 3410 - Linguistic Anthropology

3 credit hours

Language in its anthropological contexts with a focus on language as one element of culture, including how a language fits into the cultural system, how language is distinguished from other components of culture, how culture and language interrelate, and what techniques and methods can be used to infer nonlinguistic facts from linguistic material.

ANTH 3530 - Anthropology Research Methods

3 credit hours

Prerequisites: ANTH 2010, ANTH 2210, and ANTH 2800 (or corequisite of ANTH 2800). Introduces the use and application of statistical methods to anthropological problems. Students will use statistical software to perform quantitative analyses of anthropological data sets from cultural, archaeology, and biological anthropology.

ANTH electives 12 credit hours

Area Studies

ANTH 3509 - Peoples and Cultures of China and Japan

3 credit hours

Prerequisite: ANTH 2010 recommended. The diverse peoples and culture of China and Japan. Overview of East Asia as a region and contemporary issues and impacts resulting from globalization from an anthropological perspective.

ANTH 3514 - Peoples and Cultures of Africa

3 credit hours

(Same as AAS 3514 and AST 3514.) The diverse peoples and cultures of Africa. History, sociocultural system, and contemporary issues and impacts resulting from globalization from an anthropological perspective.

ANTH 3515 - Peoples and Cultures of Native North America

3 credit hours

The diverse peoples and cultures of Native North America (often called American Indians or Native Americans). History, sociocultural system, and contemporary issues and impacts resulting from globalization from an anthropological perspective.

ANTH 3520 - North American Prehistoric Archaeology

3 credit hours

A comprehensive presentation including archaeological findings concerning the initial settlement of North America some 14,000 years ago; the origins, adaptations, and development of major North American cultural traditions through European contact and colonization; and the major theoretical contributions of North American archaeology.

ANTH 3521 - Mesoamerican Archaeology

3 credit hours

Prerequisite: 3 hours anthropology. Archaeology of Mesoamerica to include the findings of archaeology of the initial settlement of Mesoamerica; the origins, adaptations, and development of major prehistoric Mesoamerican cultural traditions such as the Olmec, Maya, and Aztec; and the major theoretical contributions of Mesoamerican archaeology.

ANTH 4520 - Archaeology of the Southeastern United States

3 credit hours

Prerequisites: ANTH 2230 or ANTH 3210 or ANTH 3520, or permission of instructor. A comprehensive presentation of the archaeology of the southeastern United States, to include historical overviews of southeastern archaeology; a consideration of geography, geomorphology, and environment; theoretical contributions of southeastern archaeology; the finds of southeastern archaeology concerning the initial settlement of the region; the origins, adaptations, and development of major prehistoric southeastern cultural traditions through historic contact and colonization.

Archaeology/Biological Anthropology

ANTH 3240 - Ancient Civilizations

3 credit hours

Prerequisite: 3 hours of anthropology. Comparative study of archaeological evidence on the origins, development, and collapse of the early civilizations of the world. The transformation of human societies from the first settled villages to urban states in Mesopotamia, Egypt, India, Central Asia, Mesoamerica, and Peru.

ANTH 3520 - North American Prehistoric Archaeology

3 credit hours

A comprehensive presentation including archaeological findings concerning the initial settlement of North America some 14,000 years ago; the origins, adaptations, and development of major North American cultural traditions through European contact and colonization; and the major theoretical contributions of North American archaeology.

ANTH 3521 - Mesoamerican Archaeology

3 credit hours

Prerequisite: 3 hours anthropology. Archaeology of Mesoamerica to include the findings of archaeology of the initial settlement of Mesoamerica; the origins, adaptations, and development of major prehistoric Mesoamerican cultural traditions such as the Olmec, Maya, and Aztec; and the major theoretical contributions of Mesoamerican archaeology.

ANTH 3610 - Archaeological Methods

3 credit hours

Prerequisite: ANTH 3210 or permission of instructor. Methods of identifying, excavating, recording, analyzing, reporting, and interpreting archaeological sites. Focus on technical aspects of archaeological research, including a substantial component of classroom simulations of the practical applications of these methodologies.

ANTH 4520 - Archaeology of the Southeastern United States

3 credit hours

Prerequisites: ANTH 2230 or ANTH 3210 or ANTH 3520, or permission of instructor. A comprehensive presentation of the archaeology of the southeastern United States, to include historical overviews of southeastern archaeology; a consideration of geography, geomorphology, and environment; theoretical contributions of southeastern archaeology; the finds of southeastern archaeology concerning the initial settlement of the region; the origins, adaptations, and development of major prehistoric southeastern cultural traditions through historic contact and colonization.

Cultural Anthropology/Linguistics

ANTH 3120 - Popular Culture in Global Perspective

3 credit hours

Prerequisite: ANTH 2010 or permission of instructor. Cross-culture exploration of pop culture as a body of widely shared and contested beliefs, practices, and material objects that present ordinary social life in spectacular and exaggerated form. Use of ethnography to understand pop culture as both a commercial phenomenon rooted in mass media as well as an expression of mass consumer resistance

ANTH 3130 - Anthropology of Music

3 credit hours

Prerequisite: ANTH 2010 or permission of instructor. The study of music as it reflects and shapes culture and social behavior from around the world. How music serves as a window into ideas of globalization and the related issues of power, resistance, and identity formation. Particular attention paid to the role of media and music in cross-cultural settings.

ANTH 3640 - Visual Anthropology

3 credit hours

Prerequisites: 3 hours anthropology or permission of instructor. Photography and film as tools and products of ethnography. Researching, analyzing, and presenting behavioral and cultural ideas through visual means. Cultural and political biases presented through photography and film.

ANTH 3720 - Environmental Anthropology

3 credit hours

Prerequisite: 3 hours anthropology or geography. Comparative study of ecological systems utilized by tribal, peasant, and industrialized peoples of the world. Special attention on theoretical approaches examining the interface of the environment and culture, the evolution of modes of subsistence, and contemporary development and indigenous people.

ANTH 3750 - Race, Class, and Gender

3 credit hours

Prerequisites: 3 hours anthropology or women's studies; ANTH 2010 recommended. An anthropological examination of the biological and cultural aspects of human identity as expressed through the concepts of race, ethnicity, gender, and sexuality. Focus on ways in which regional, ethnic, and gender identities are celebrated, contested, and regulated cross-culturally.

ANTH 3752 - Cultural Images of Gender

3 credit hours

Prerequisites: ANTH 2010 or SOC 1010 or WGST 2100; or permission of instructor. Global perspectives of gender through exploration of the experiences of men and women of various backgrounds worldwide. Special attention to mediums and writing styles presented; critical examination of creation and perpetuation of cultural images.

ANTH 4140 - Immigrants and Globalization in the American South

3 credit hours

Prerequisites: Junior standing; ANTH 2010 or ANTH 3010 or permission of instructor. ANTH 4130 recommended. Explores anthropologically the specific effects of globalizing forces in the southern United States. Relations between global and local communities explored taking into account immigration, particularly of Latinos and Asians; local industry in a time of globalization; power and confrontation between rural and urban worlds; issues of race and ethnicity; and the assimilation of foreign-born professionals into Southern social and cultural systems.

ANTH 4550 - Hip-hop Music and Culture

3 credit hours

(Same as MUHL 4550 and RIM 4550.) Prerequisites: ENGL 1010 and ENGL 1020. An ethnomusicological investigation of how hip-hop reacts to and informs mainstream culture through its primary art forms: music, visual art, and dance. Major themes and issues that cut across hip-hop's history, including issues of style and performance, gender, race, politics, and religion addressed.

ANTH 4730 - Economic Anthropology

3 credit hours

The ways people produce, distribute, and consume goods, how such systems are organized, how they operate, how they develop, and how they relate to other systems, especially the family, political, and ideological. Draws on case material for household economies, the transition to capitalist economies, and the world economic system.

ANTH 4750 - Anthropology of Religion

3 credit hours

Prerequisite: ANTH 2010 or ANTH 2740 or ANTH 3010 or permission of instructor. Cross-cultural exploration of religion, including beliefs in the supernatural, the use of ritual in secular and sacred context, and the roles of ceremonial practitioners. Focus on how people interpret and control their worldviews through religion and ritual.

ENGL 1020 - Research and Argumentative Writing

3 credit hours

Prerequisite: ENGL 1010. The second General Education English course. Emphasis on analytic and argumentative writing and on locating, organizing, and using library resource materials in the writing. Minimum grade of C- required for credit.

COMM 2200 - Fundamentals of Communication

3 credit hours

Principles and processes of effective public oral communication including researching, critical thinking, organizing, presenting, listening, and using appropriate language. Counts as part of the General Education Communication requirement. TBR Common Course: COMM 2025

ANTH 2800 - Professions in Anthropology

1 credit hour

Prerequisites: ANTH 2010 and ANTH 2210 both with a grade of B- or above. Introduces students to the profession of anthropology via lectures, hands-on activities, readings, small group service-learning projects, and writing assignments.

ANTH 3000 - Anthropological Theory

ANTH 3210 - Archaeology

3 credit hours

Introduces methods used to study the nature and development of prehistoric societies. Approaches to survey, excavation, analysis, and interpretation explored through lectures, case studies, and problem assignments.

HIST 2010 - Survey of United States History I

3 credit hours

Survey of the political, economic, social, cultural, and diplomatic phases of American life in its regional, national, and international aspects. HIST 2010 discusses the era from the beginning to 1877. HIST 2020 discusses the era from 1877 to the present. These courses are prerequisite for all advanced courses in American history and satisfy the General Education History requirement. HIST 2010 is NOT a prerequisite for HIST 2020. TBR Common Course: HIST 2010

HIST 2020 - Survey of United States History II

3 credit hours

Survey of the political, economic, social, cultural, and diplomatic phases of American life in its regional, national, and international aspects. HIST 2010 discusses the era from the beginning to 1877. HIST 2020 discusses the era from 1877 to the present. These courses are prerequisite for all advanced courses in American history and satisfy the General Education History requirement. HIST 2010 is NOT a prerequisite for HIST 2020. TBR Common Course: HIST 2020

Subtotal: 28 Hours

Junior

ANTH 3010 - Ethnology

3 credit hours

Examines different approaches in anthropology to the study of contemporary world cultures. For upper-division anthropology majors and minors. Addresses various theoretical approaches in the study of culture, use of ethnographic methods, ethical role of the anthropologist in research, and current issues in ethnology. Readings will focus on ethnographies from around the world.

ANTH 3410 - Linguistic Anthropology

3 credit hours

Language in its anthropological contexts with a focus on language as one element of culture, including how a language fits into the cultural system, how language is distinguished from other components of culture, how culture and language interrelate, and what techniques and methods can be used to infer nonlinguistic facts from linguistic material.

ANTH 3530 - Anthropology Research Methods

3 credit hours

Prerequisites: ANTH 2010, ANTH 2210, and ANTH 2800 (or corequisite of ANTH 2800). Introduces the use and application of statistical methods to anthropological problems. Students will use statistical software to perform quantitative analyses of anthropological data sets from cultural, archaeology, and biological anthropology.

Anthropology

ANTH 2010 - Cultural Anthropology
3 credit hours

A comparative examination of the cultural organization of human behavior in societies around the world. Practical applications and the importance of intercultural understanding stressed. Counts toward General Education Social/Behavioral Sciences requirement.

Cultural change over the past four million years as interpreted through archaeology. The development of hunting and gathering through the origins of agriculture and the appearance of the world's first civilizations. Counts toward General Education Humanities/Fine Arts requirement.

ANTH 2230 - Tennessee Archaeology
3 credit hours

Archaeology of prehistoric and historic Tennessee. Based on archaeological research; presents an overview of human occupation in Tennessee with emphasis on local sites.

Critical examination of popular theories of prehistory including Atlantis, Bigfoot, extraterrestrial visitors, and others with a focus on the nature of the scientific method.

ANTH 2740 - Magic, Witchcraft, and Religion
3 credit hours

Symbolic and ritual expression in indigenous and urban societies from an anthropological perspective including interpretations of myth, religious healing, cults, taboo, witchcraft, sorcery, and religious specialists and non-specialists.

ANTH 2800 - Professions in Anthropology
1 credit hour

Prerequisites: ANTH 2010 and ANTH 2210 both with a grade of B- or above. Introduces students to the profession of anthropology via lectures, hands-on activities, readings, small group service-learning projects, and writing assignments.

ANTH 3000 - Anthropological Theory
3 credit hours

The major anthropological theories within their historical, cultural, and political context.

Formerly ANTH 4980

ANTH 3010 - Ethnology
3 credit hours

Examines different approaches in anthropology to the study of contemporary world cultures. For upper-division anthropology majors and minors. Addresses various theoretical approaches in the study of culture, use of ethnographic methods, ethical role of the anthropologist in research, and current issues in ethnology. Readings will focus on ethnographies from around the world.

ANTH 3110 - Cross-Cultural Media Studies
3 credit hours

The study of media from a cross-cultural perspective, emphasizing the use of ethnography as a means of understanding the production and reception of media within different cultural contexts.

ANTH 3120 - Popular Culture in Global Perspective
3 credit hours

Prerequisite: ANTH 2010 or permission of instructor. Cross-culture exploration of pop culture as a body of widely shared and contested beliefs, practices, and material objects that present ordinary social life in spectacular and exaggerated form. Use of ethnography to understand pop culture as both a commercial phenomenon rooted in mass media as well as an expression of mass consumer resistance

ANTH 3130 - Anthropology of Music
3 credit hours

Prerequisite: ANTH 2010 or permission of instructor. The study of music as it reflects and shapes culture and social behavior from around the world. How music serves as a window into ideas of globalization and the related issues of power, resistance, and identity formation. Particular attention paid to the role of media and music in cross-cultural settings.

ANTH 3210 - Archaeology
3 credit hours

Introduces methods used to study the nature and development of prehistoric societies. Approaches to survey, excavation, analysis, and interpretation explored through lectures, case studies, and problem assignments.

ANTH 3240 - Ancient Civilizations
3 credit hours

Prerequisite: 3 hours of anthropology. Comparative study of archaeological evidence on the origins, development, and collapse of the early civilizations of the world. The transformation of human societies from the first settled villages to urban states in Mesopotamia, Egypt, India, Central Asia, Mesoamerica, and Peru.

ANTH 3310 - Biological Anthropology
3 credit hours

The origin and development of human life, its primate roots, ecology, and diversity.

ANTH 3350 - Archaeology of Death
3 credit hours

Explores human diversity from the perspective of death and burial with emphasis on archaeological methods used to recover, describe, and interpret how past and present human societies disposed of the dead and coped with death through ritual.

ANTH 3410 - Linguistic Anthropology
3 credit hours

Language in its anthropological contexts with a focus on language as one element of culture, including how a language fits into the cultural system, how language is distinguished from other components of culture, how culture and language interrelate, and what techniques and methods can be used to infer nonlinguistic facts from linguistic material.

ANTH 3509 - Peoples and Cultures of China and Japan
3 credit hours

Prerequisite: ANTH 2010 recommended. The diverse peoples and culture of China and Japan. Overview of East Asia as a region and contemporary issues and impacts resulting from globalization from an anthropological perspective.

(Same as AAS 3514 and AST 3514.) The diverse peoples and cultures of Africa. History, sociocultural system, and contemporary issues and impacts resulting from globalization from an anthropological perspective.

The diverse peoples and cultures of Native North America (often called American Indians or Native Americans). History, sociocultural system, and contemporary issues and impacts resulting from globalization from an anthropological perspective.

ANTH 3516 - Peoples and Cultures of Europe
3 credit hours

The diverse peoples and cultures of Europe. History, sociocultural system, and contemporary issues and impacts resulting from globalization from an anthropological perspective.

ANTH 3517 - Peoples and Cultures of Brazil
3 credit hours

The diverse peoples and cultures of Brazil. History, sociocultural systems, and contemporary issues and impacts resulting from globalization from an anthropological perspective.

ANTH 3518 - Peoples and Cultures of Latin America
3 credit hours

The diverse peoples and cultures of Latin America. History, sociocultural systems, and contemporary issues and impacts resulting from globalization from an anthropological perspective.

ANTH 3520 - North American Prehistoric Archaeology
3 credit hours

A comprehensive presentation including archaeological findings concerning the initial settlement of North America some 14,000 years ago; the origins, adaptations, and development of major North American cultural traditions through European contact and colonization; and the major theoretical contributions of North American archaeology.

ANTH 3521 - Mesoamerican Archaeology
3 credit hours

Prerequisite: 3 hours anthropology. Archaeology of Mesoamerica to include the findings of archaeology of the initial settlement of Mesoamerica; the origins, adaptations, and development of major prehistoric Mesoamerican cultural traditions such as the Olmec, Maya, and Aztec; and the major theoretical contributions of Mesoamerican archaeology.

ANTH 3530 - Anthropology Research Methods
3 credit hours

Prerequisites: ANTH 2010, ANTH 2210, and ANTH 2800 (or corequisite of ANTH 2800). Introduces the use and application of statistical methods to anthropological problems. Students will use statistical software to perform quantitative analyses of anthropological data sets from cultural, archaeology, and biological anthropology.

ANTH 3610 - Archaeological Methods
3 credit hours

Prerequisite: ANTH 3210 or permission of instructor. Methods of identifying, excavating, recording, analyzing, reporting, and interpreting archaeological sites. Focus on technical aspects of archaeological research, including a substantial component of classroom simulations of the practical applications of these methodologies.

ANTH 3640 - Visual Anthropology
3 credit hours

Prerequisites: 3 hours anthropology or permission of instructor. Photography and film as tools and products of ethnography. Researching, analyzing, and presenting behavioral and cultural ideas through visual means. Cultural and political biases presented through photography and film.

ANTH 3650 - Forensic Anthropology
3 credit hours

An intensive overview of forensic anthropology--an applied field of physical anthropology that seeks to recover, identify, and evaluate human skeletal remains within a medicolegal context.

An in-depth study of a special topic which is significant in current anthropological literature.

ANTH 3720 - Environmental Anthropology
3 credit hours

Prerequisite: 3 hours anthropology or geography. Comparative study of ecological systems utilized by tribal, peasant, and industrialized peoples of the world. Special attention on theoretical approaches examining the interface of the environment and culture, the evolution of modes of subsistence, and contemporary development and indigenous people.

ANTH 3730 - Medical Anthropology
3 credit hours

A cross-cultural survey of health-related beliefs and behavior. Includes etiologies, treatments, patients, and practitioners as they interact in an environmental, biological, and cultural context.

ANTH 3750 - Race, Class, and Gender
3 credit hours

Prerequisites: 3 hours anthropology or women's studies; ANTH 2010 recommended. An anthropological examination of the biological and cultural aspects of human identity as expressed through the concepts of race, ethnicity, gender, and sexuality. Focus on ways in which regional, ethnic, and gender identities are celebrated, contested, and regulated cross-culturally.

ANTH 3752 - Cultural Images of Gender
3 credit hours

Prerequisites: ANTH 2010 or SOC 1010 or WGST 2100; or permission of instructor. Global perspectives of gender through exploration of the experiences of men and women of various backgrounds worldwide. Special attention to mediums and writing styles presented; critical examination of creation and perpetuation of cultural images.

ANTH 4120 - Practicing Anthropology
3 credit hours

Culture change theory and the practical dimensions of anthropology in research and planned change implementation.

ANTH 4130 - Anthropology of Globalization
3 credit hours

Prerequisites: Junior standing; ANTH 2010, ANTH 3010, or GS 2010, or permission of instructor. Explores the phenomenon of globalization anthropologically including competing understanding of transnational flow of capital, goods, people, images, and ideas around the world.

ANTH 4140 - Immigrants and Globalization in the American South
3 credit hours

Prerequisites: Junior standing; ANTH 2010 or ANTH 3010 or permission of instructor. ANTH 4130 recommended. Explores anthropologically the specific effects of globalizing forces in the southern United States. Relations between global and local communities explored taking into account immigration, particularly of Latinos and Asians; local industry in a time of globalization; power and confrontation between rural and urban worlds; issues of race and ethnicity; and the assimilation of foreign-born professionals into Southern social and cultural systems.

(Same as SOC 4400.) Provides an in-depth analysis of the causes, experiences, and implications of global sex trafficking through a social science and feminist perspective. Utilizes various multimedia methods to examine sex trafficking both globally and locally; includes both an anthropological and sociological perspective, incorporating statistical analysis of-and individual narratives from-the transnational sex industry.

ANTH 4420 - Embodiment: Culture and Human Anatomy
3 credit hours

(Same as SOC 4420.) An interdisciplinary approach to understanding the interplay of both biological and social forces on the human body.

ANTH 4520 - Archaeology of the Southeastern United States
3 credit hours

Prerequisites: ANTH 2230 or ANTH 3210 or ANTH 3520, or permission of instructor. A comprehensive presentation of the archaeology of the southeastern United States, to include historical overviews of southeastern archaeology; a consideration of geography, geomorphology, and environment; theoretical contributions of southeastern archaeology; the finds of southeastern archaeology concerning the initial settlement of the region; the origins, adaptations, and development of major prehistoric southeastern cultural traditions through historic contact and colonization.

ANTH 4550 - Hip-hop Music and Culture
3 credit hours

(Same as MUHL 4550 and RIM 4550.) Prerequisites: ENGL 1010 and ENGL 1020. An ethnomusicological investigation of how hip-hop reacts to and informs mainstream culture through its primary art forms: music, visual art, and dance. Major themes and issues that cut across hip-hop's history, including issues of style and performance, gender, race, politics, and religion addressed.

ANTH 4620 - Environmental Archaeology
3 credit hours

Prerequisite: 3 hours from the following: ANTH 2210, ANTH 3210, ANTH 3310, ANTH 3520, or ANTH 4950. The interdisciplinary reconstruction of prehistoric environments using archaeological methods with a focus on geoarchaeology, zooarchaeology, and archaeobotany. How past environments affect human adaptation and how humans impact the environment.

ANTH 4730 - Economic Anthropology
3 credit hours

The ways people produce, distribute, and consume goods, how such systems are organized, how they operate, how they develop, and how they relate to other systems, especially the family, political, and ideological. Draws on case material for household economies, the transition to capitalist economies, and the world economic system.

ANTH 4750 - Anthropology of Religion
3 credit hours

Prerequisite: ANTH 2010 or ANTH 2740 or ANTH 3010 or permission of instructor. Cross-cultural exploration of religion, including beliefs in the supernatural, the use of ritual in secular and sacred context, and the roles of ceremonial practitioners. Focus on how people interpret and control their worldviews through religion and ritual.

Field experience or reading courses through which special interests or needs of the student may be pursued under individual supervision. No more than three hours may be used in the major. Arrangements must be made with an instructor prior to registration.

ANTH 4920 - Anthropology Senior Thesis
3 credit hours

Prerequisite: Permission of Anthropology Thesis Committee. Focuses on a specific research topic chosen with the consent of the thesis committee and with the potential for original discovery or creative development. Independent pursuit of research objectives outlined in a research proposal results in a written thesis, the approval of which will include an oral defense.

ANTH 4940 - Ethnographic Field School
3 to 6 credit hours

Field experience in a cross-cultural setting. Training in ethnographic research techniques.

ANTH 4950 - Archaeological Field School
3 to 6 credit hours

Course may be taken for three to six credits after consultation with instructor. The basic techniques of archaeology and paleoecology through participation in actual excavation and laboratory work.

ANTH 4960 - Anthropology Internship
1 to 6 credit hours

Supervised independent study in which student is placed in an organization on a contractual basis as a means of applying the principles of his/her training in preparation for eventual employment. Arrangements must be made with the intern supervisor prior to registration. No more than six hours may be used in the major.

What Is Anthropology?

The word anthropology itself tells the basic story -- from the Greek anthropos ("human") and logia ("study"). Anthropologists study humankind. To the uninitiated, anthropologists are
intrepid explorers who travel to little-known corners of the world to study exotic
peoples in faraway jungles or archaeologists who dig deep into the remains of lost
desert cities to uncover the tools and cooking pots of people who vanished long ago.
While many disciplines study people (psychology, sociology, history, biology, medicine,
and so on), those Hollywood stereotypes do show how anthropology is different: only
anthropology seeks to understand the whole panorama of human existence in both geographic
space and over long periods of time.

Comparative and Holistic Approach. As a discipline, anthropology begins with a simple yet powerful idea -- any detail
of human behavior can be better understood when seen against the backdrop of the variety
of peoples and cultures throughout the globe today and in those peoples and cultures
of the past. This holistic or multifaceted approach to the study of human beings brings
together many aspects of human experience -- language, biology, religion, family life,
politics, economics, and others. By comparing peoples of all places and times, anthropologists
seek to understand in the broadest sense "what is means to be human." The breadth
of our interests are reflected in the four major subfields of anthropology -- biological
(or physical) anthropology; archaeology; linguistic anthropology; and cultural anthropology.

Practicing Anthropology. While many anthropologists continue to work in other cultures amid exotic settings,
MTSU's program also emphasizes the practical aspects of anthropology. Applied anthropologists
directly serve the practical needs of their communities and organizations by integrating
anthropological perspectives and methods in solving human problems and advocating
for fair and just policy based on sound research. Anthropology offers a particular
capability in helping solve human problems through building partnerships in research
and problem solving; acknowledging the perspectives of all people involved; focusing
on challenges and opportunities presented by biological variability, cultural diversity,
ethnicity, gender, poverty and class; and addressing imbalances in resources, rights
and power (Society for Applied Anthropology 1999).

What's Special about Anthropology at MTSU?

Experience the world as others see it

Among our key goals is a broad preparation in anthropology through the "four-field
approach" -- emphasizing a basic introduction to the four subdisciplines of anthropology:
archaeology, ethnology, biological anthropology, and linguistics. A special emphasis
of our program is on involving students in "fieldwork." Fieldwork -- actually working
on real anthropology projects outside the traditional classroom setting -- has been
the mainstay of our discipline since its founding. All of our faculty are actively
involved in research and are dedicated to involving students in that research. One
special aspect of our program is a continuing commitment to providing opportunities
for students to gain "hands-on" experience.

Since 1995, the department has offered an annual summer field school in archaeology.
This course provides the opportunity to experience archaeological fieldwork by contributing
to several on-going excavation projects in Tennessee. Past participants have worked
on prehistoric Native American sites ranging from 4000-1000 years old to frontier
forts to African-American slave sites.

Since 1998, the department has offered a multitude of international field opportunities
in Mexico, Brazil, England, Australia, and New Zealand. As a member of two international
study consortiums, MTSU offers opportunities for dozens of courses in anthropology
and other disciplines around the globe.

In addition, our students are placed in a number of paid and unpaid academic year
and summer anthropology internships in cooperation with the National Park Service,
local archaeological agencies and firms, and local parks. These internships provide
an opportunity to practice classroom learning in a real work setting, gain course
credits toward a degree, acquire valuable work experience, and apply skills to benefit
the local and regional community.

Special resources and facilities of interest to students include an archaeology laboratory,
department microcomputer laboratory, electronic Human Relations Area files, and a
growing multimedia library of slides, films, reports, and journals.

Our holistic, interdisciplinary, and cross-cultural comparative approach provides
skills needed to function at the highest level in an increasingly multidisciplinary
and multi-ethnic society in the United States and an increasingly global economy.

Department of Sociology and AnthropologyMiddle Tennessee State UniversityMTSU Box 101301 East Main StreetMurfreesboro, TN 37132

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